Blog

Co-authored by Riccardo la Torre and Sacha Ismail Since the Covid-19 crisis hit, many workers, including those working in hospitals, libraries, construction and in the postal service, have taken unofficial industrial action to stand up for themselves and for safety. In the face of a government...

The need for physical distancing during the COVID-19 crisis has led to the suspension of many activities, including the phase 2 hearings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry (GTI). Dave Green , FBU National Officer, gives an update on the FBU’s work following the Inquiry’s suspension on 16 March. Like...

Grenfell survivor Nicholas Burton has huge respect for firefighters who enter burning buildings to save lives. He believes firefighters around the world deserve great respect and admiration from those they serve. After all he has been through, he is well placed to judge. Nicholas was rescued, along...

With firefighters on the frontline continuing to keep the public safe during the COVID-19 crisis, it’s vital that FBU members’ voices and concerns are heard. Tam McFarlane , FBU national officer, shares the ways that FBU members can continue to organise throughout the pandemic. The FBU has been...

In 1980, a fire at a London hostel laid bare the brutality of Margaret Thatcher's Britain and the government's failed housing and fire safety policies. Dr Shane Ewen looks back at the fire and remembers the victims. In the early hours of 18 March 1980, residents in Kilburn, North London were woken...

Raymond Markey of Macquarie University, on the bushfires devastating large parts of Australia - their impact on firefighters and communities and the warnings that went unheeded UNPRECEDENTED ​‘Unprecedented’ is the term regularly applied to the current Australian bushfire crisis, in terms of: -...

Despite the great strides that have been taken over several decades, discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers remains an entrenched and very much a live issue for many in the workplace. The results of a survey of over 100,000 LGBT people in the UK that was...

For me, the highlight of the FBU LGBT school is always the guest speakers that attend. Relevant, informative and often moving, the talks demonstrate the past present and future importance of our section and the work it does. This year’s school opened with Jezza Donovan from the charity Gendered...

Firstly, I want to thank members for trusting me to continue as general secretary of our great union. It is a huge privilege and honour to serve the members of the FBU for a fourth term, and I am humbled to have received the highest proportion of votes (67%) in any FBU general secretary election...

We can make firefighting safer with our ground-breaking contaminants research, but we need all firefighters to take part, says FBU general secretary Matt Wrack . Last year, we launched a contaminants research project with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) to examine the links between...